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AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with DEAD 27s

“We make swampy rock music,” says Will Evans of Charleston, South Carolina-based blues rock outfit Dead 27s, whose debut full-length, Ghosts Are Calling Out, is set for release on Friday, September 30th via Red Parlor Records. “Charleston makes you want to play swampy music— it’s a very Southern city, it’s hot and it’s humid, you feel swampy and it comes through in our sound.”

The new album was recorded with producer Ben Ellman at The Living Room in New Orleans, an historic church that has been renovated into a state-of-the-art studio. “Great studio, great city, great producer—it was like the trifecta,” laughs Evans. “We got to dive into the music and soak everything up.”

“With this album we were more conscious of song construction, and were definitely a lot more focused as a group,” explains bassist Oliver Goldstein. “We got to spend a lot more time together developing the songs before we went to New Orleans to record. We wanted to capture a feeling more than creating an overarching theme.” “We experimented with our sound and vibe on the album,” adds guitarist Wallace Mullinax. “Each song has its own story—there are some about tragedy, some about love, and sonically it all ties together. We try to respect each other’s roles creatively, and everyone is open to other ideas. We really found our sound as a band, everyone contributed to the way each song was made.”

The Dead 27s are serious about their work, but they definitely don’t take themselves too seriously. “We’re always joking around, we were friends first, before the music,” Evans laughs. “There are a lot of pranks, it wouldn’t be unexpected for Oliver to get woken up by a speaker in his face blaring ‘La Vida Loca’, which has happened.”

The band will bring their swampy sound and their raucous set to Music City Roots in Franklin, Tennessee on October 5th. “We do get a little rowdy onstage. We love to hang out after the shows, we like IPA’s—if there’s good IPA, we might drink 3 or 15 of them, but not too many, of course,” explains Evans. “And Oliver likes iceberg lettuce. Please bring iceberg lettuce to the show for him.”